NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5 - Obtaining a Skill
“Just buy me a good round of drinks.
I’m only doing this for fun, not looking to fleece anyone.”
It was a reasonable condition.
Han-wol accepted immediately, and the vigilante also gladly agreed.
After all, when no one comes by, such diversions are necessary to break the monotony of a gatekeeper’s life.
[Hidden Quest Generated!]
[Title: Bet with the Pig’s Den Gatekeeper]
[Description: Knowing he would win anyway, Han-wol decided with a villainous heart to take advantage of the innocent gatekeeper.
But the world is harsh.
Kill 10 monsters in the Pig’s Den and toy with the poor gatekeeper.]
[Quest Rank: Magic]
[Objective: Win the bet with the gatekeeper]
[Reward: Appropriate experience points and various others]
Han-wol was shocked by the status window that suddenly appeared.
Not because of the hidden quest, but rather its description.
‘I’ve vaguely felt this before, but these descriptions really get on my nerves.’
He wasn’t sure if other players experienced this too, but Han-wol suspected it was directed only at him.
Han-wol inwardly cursed the “entity beyond comprehension.”
He headed toward the portal and asked once more:
“By the way, how will you judge how many I’ve killed?”
“Just show me the materials you’ve collected when you come out. I can roughly tell from the quantity. No use trying to cheat with old materials.
So try your best. If you feel your life is in danger, get out immediately.
Otherwise, my sleep will be disturbed.”
Han-wol silently nodded in response and stepped into the portal.
x x x
After a brief flash, he found himself on a plain covered with short yellow grass.
Behind him was the portal to exit, and in front were six white pigs.
Of course, these weren’t ordinary pigs—they were white pigs with forearm-sized tusks jutting upward.
As soon as the white pigs saw Han-wol, they charged at him as if possessed.
At this rate, Han-wol would be torn to shreds by the white pigs.
And their samgyeopsal (pork belly) would grow another layer, becoming sagyeopsal (four-layer belly).
Han-wol, unfazed, aimed the muzzle of his magic handgun forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Han-wol fired exactly six shots, then immediately changed magazines.
As a click sound came from Han-wol’s magic handgun.
[You have killed monsters of a higher rank than yourself.]
[Additional experience points applied.]
[Experience points increased.]
[Experience points increased.]
……………………
[Experience points increased.]
For reference, the Pig’s Den was a 2-Star hunting ground, and Han-wol was still a 1-Star player.
“Already 60% complete?”
Han-wol approached the now-white corpses of the pigs with a grim smile and fired one more shot.
With a bang, one of the white pig’s giant tusks fell off as if peeling a scab.
He then used it to tear into the corpse’s heart area.
The flesh was so tough that he would need to tear it multiple times to reach the heart.
“Next time I should make a skinning knife.”
It was quite a laborious task, but before long, Han-wol was able to extract a magic stone from the heart.
When he removed the white pig’s magic stone, the corpse transformed into particles of light and scattered into the air.
All that remained were the magic stone in Han-wol’s hand and the tusk he had placed on the ground.
“Oh?”
Before the regression, when monsters were killed, they remained as corpses, polluting the Earth.
But now it seemed that extracting the magic stone caused the corpse to disappear.
Han-wol thought that this “entity beyond comprehension” was better than expected.
This time, he shot off both tusks completely before extracting the magic stone.
Of the separated tusks, one disappeared and the other remained.
The body vanished in light as before.
No, it didn’t disappear completely.
Where the corpse had been, something like a pointed stone lay.
“Is this… a claw?”
It was literally a white pig’s claw.
This time, he tried extracting just the magic stones from three pigs without dismembering them.
The first pig left only a claw, the second left both a claw and tusks, and the third left nothing.
For the last remaining pig, he tore it apart completely, as if dissecting the corpse.
Then he took the magic stone.
This yielded enough meat, liver, heart, and other ingredients from the white pig to host a barbecue party.
“This is fun, isn’t it?”
That was the moment Han-wol began to enjoy hunting.
x x x
Han-wol put all the materials in his inventory and resumed hunting.
The process was simple.
When a bang sound was heard, there was soon a thud.
Then a message about experience points increasing would appear, followed by another gunshot.
This process was repeated in cycles of six.
Of course, since the magazines weren’t infinite, he couldn’t continue hunting like this forever.
So Han-wol sat down on the ground amidst a pile of corpses.
“Material Conversion.”
[Please specify the desired material.]
“List.”
[Analyzed materials: Magic handgun materials, Bullet materials]
Han-wol immediately selected bullet materials.
Then, using his Magic Handgun Modification and Creation skill, he synthesized 1,000 regular magic bullets for the handgun.
He only used 5 magic stones.
For reference, 2-Star magic stones typically sold for about 100,000 won each in the market.
Han-wol immediately loaded a new magazine and began breaking down the white pig corpses.
Initially, he used the tusks for dismemberment, but now he was too lazy and just shot them instead.
The quality of materials might be slightly reduced or the acquisition probability might decrease, but it was time-efficient.
Han-wol immediately placed the numerous materials and magic stones obtained this way into his inventory.
‘I think I passed a hundred pigs a while ago.’
Han-wol seriously considered what to ask the gatekeeper when he returned.
“Should I hunt some more first?”
There was still plenty of time before the deadline.
And if he kept making bullets, it was practically unlimited.
Although he was using valuable magic stones, he was earning much more than he was spending.
“Perfect timing.”
Just as he thought about hunting more, a herd of white pigs came charging.
They were snorting vigorously, as if they had come to avenge their fallen comrades.
Han-wol immediately fired all six bullets.
Six yellow smoke trails, characteristic of magic, appeared instantly.
Through the smoke, the herd of white pigs leaped over their dead comrades and charged vigorously.
As he continued to reload and fire repeatedly, one pig came right up to Han-wol’s face.
Han-wol, not particularly flustered, aimed the gun muzzle at the pig’s face.
The pig, momentarily startled, changed direction sideways, avoiding Han-wol on its own.
‘Idiot. I’m out of bullets.’
Han-wol leisurely reloaded and shot dead the white pig running behind.
Han-wol looked ahead.
Dozens of pigs still remained.
But they weren’t charging recklessly like before.
“Oh?”
The white pigs were running in zigzags rather than straight lines.
Clearly, they had realized something too.
That when Han-wol’s gun muzzle glowed, only death awaited in front of it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yet the gunshots still rang out at regular intervals without the slightest error.
And as if adding a chorus, the monsters fell one by one.
The pigs’ feeble evasion attempts were useless against Han-wol.
As soon as Han-wol saw a target, he immediately estimated its direction and speed.
Then he instantly calculated the distance to predict the most ideal path.
In other words, Han-wol wasn’t shooting at what he currently saw, but at the future.
[You have gained the Theoretical Magic Studies branch skill ‘Deterministic Worldview’ through self-realization.]
Just then, Han-wol learned a new skill.
However, Han-wol’s reaction remained stoic.
Normally, when learning a new skill, one would check what effect it has.
But Han-wol didn’t seem interested.
Partly because he was currently hunting, but also because he didn’t seem particularly curious.
Because he already knew it.
‘Deterministic Worldview.’
As Han-wol inwardly muttered, the future began to overlay the surface of the world.
The background turned gray, and the visible future took on a red glow.
He could see exactly how the white pigs in front of him would move next.
The momentary future trajectories were painted red in the gray world.
He pulled the trigger without hesitation toward the red, semi-transparent forms.
Then, as if being drawn to Han-wol’s bullet, the pig soon aligned perfectly with the future trajectory.
The white pig that was changing direction instinctively looked at the yellow-glowing gun muzzle.
The bullet lodged directly in the center of its pupil, killing it instantly before it could even feel pain.
Only after the sound of the handgun was heard about twenty more times did the surroundings finally quiet down.